Sports media company Teton Gravity Research has been wowing fans and audiences for almost 30 years, becoming known around the world for its award-winning films, popular lifestyle brand and lively events,
After two years off due to the pandemic, TGR is set to have its first live event this coming Saturday, Sept. 17. Far Out Fest is an all-day affair in Teton Village with live music, a bonus day at the bike park, food, drinks and more before the world premiere of TGR’s new ski and snowboard film, “Magic Hour.”
In advance of the premiere, TGR’s co-founder and president Steve Jones joined us in the KHOL studios.
Listen above for more and check out a transcript of the interview below. This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
KHOL/JACK CATLIN: So watching your videos, doing my research, I came across one about how essential Jackson Hole is to TGR. You said on film, ‘It’s part of our fiber and DNA.’ What is it about this place that drew you here initially? And I also wanted to know, how do the Tetons still inspire you to this day?
STEVE JONES: You know, having traveled all around the world, I still feel like this is one of the most special places for me personally on the planet. It struck a chord right away when I came in and saw the Tetons as I’m sure that it did for most people. There’s an energy here that for me is kind of undefinable. But I find I always talk about how I don’t think TGR would have become TGR in a ski town in, say, Colorado or Vermont. This community and the pride in this community and the energy and the passion here and the creativity that comes from this valley off of the mountains, it’s just such a unique, special place. And again, that’s having gone to many, many spectacular places around the world. But this place … flying back home and to the Tetons just never gets old. So it’s got a magic energy to it.
KHOL: Your latest film, ‘Magic Hour’, celebrates those fleeting moments where the light is just right and you’re in a blissful zone of thrilling adventure and magical experience. I’m sure many of the listeners out there that love Jackson can attest to that. I love this quote from one of the athletes in the film, Nick McNutt. He said, ‘Magic hour is where everything just clicks. It’s just non-stop high fives and stoke.’ Can you tell us about the film and what went into making it?
JONES: So I think that [was] well-put by McNutt, in the sense of we always talked about the magic hour. You know, lots of people associate it with that first hour of late in the day, in the last hour of late in the evening. And it’s really much broader than that in the sense of it’s these magic moments, right? Like where we’ve been up on a ridge and all of a sudden the clouds start to break and you see the sparkly crystals and those things and they are fleeting, but they’re special. The ones that really anybody who [has] spent time in the mountains has felt like those kind of goose bump moments where everything just comes together. And so that was the inspiration for this film, if we could just try to encapsulate that and put those super special moments and that feeling, which is really almost impossible to do except for when you’re actually out there in the field. But put that into a 60-minute film. We just felt like it was something that we’ve all experienced and something that’s really special and that everybody who’s spent time in the mountains can relate to. I had one with my little kid out on Four Pines last winter, his first time up there. And I just saw him, you know, completely light up on that thing without telling it to him. It’s just that intangible thing that’s so special that you can’t teach or tell anybody. It just happens. And when you see it, it’s magic.
Listen above for KHOL’s full conversation with Teton Gravity Research’s Steve Jones.
This coverage is funded in part with an Arts For All grant provided by the Town of Jackson and Teton County.
